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invidis analysis

The state of the Digital Signage industry in the GCC region

The first Digital Signage Business Climate Index survey in the GCC region has been polled for the months November & December 2015. The good current business sentiment reflect the positive state of the Digital Signage industry. (Florian Rotberg)

invidis commentary (Logo: invidis)

Even as the GCC is feeling the pinch of lower oil prices, and the strong dollar is dampening tourism, demand for digital signage remains robust. The main reason dozens of shopping mall projects are under construction, existing retail outlets are being upgraded with new digital touch points and governments are continuing massive infrastructure projects. Major events like Expo 2020 and FIFA World Cup 2022 are also driving demand.

But besides dozens of new projects in the GCC also Iran is waking up. After the lifting of sanctions – which are expected to begin in 2016 – a huge domestic market opens up to the digital signage industry in the region. More than 400 malls are currently being planned in the Islamic Republic, 60 alone in and around Teheran.

Installations are moving away from just being iconic to offering more value-add. Sensible Return-on-Invest (ROI) expectations including maintenance and content creation are more and more excepted. This is a necessary move in the right direction – without losing the focus on unique and cutting edge expectations of GCC customers.

Most promising is a change of mindset in the region regarding more sustainable projects. Smoke and Mirror, hang and bang are slowly replaced by platform agnostic concepts with seamless user interface. The awareness is rising for dynamic content concept leveraging the potential of digital signage.

Join the leaders of the Digital Signage and Digital-out-of-Home industry and be part of the Digital Signage Summit MENA in Dubai 16th of November 2015.